Long Pie Pumpkin

The Long Pie Pumpkin is one of the Renewing America’s Food Traditions(RAFT) Grow-out varieties. It’s thought that the Long Pie Pumpkin originally came from the Isle of St. George in the Azores and was brought to Nantucket in 1832 on a whaling ship, where it was known as the Nantucket Pumpkin.

Farmers shared the seeds until it migrating north to Maine, and eventually became the favorite pie pumpkin of growers in Androscoggin County, Maine. Among heirloom enthusiasts, it is considered the best pumpkin for pie today. Which has us looking forward to its appearance on participating restaurant menus this fall.

Long Pie Pumpkins are long and thin, like overgrown orange zucchinis. They average 3 – 6 lbs, and often are not ready at harvest, for they are picked when the spot in contact with the ground is orange, but mature to a full‐orange in storage over several weeks or months. They are not ready to eat until fully orange.